Faces

   Ford Rainey. Mort Mills. Gene Evans. Jason Evers. John Anderson. Just a few of the familiar folks to be seen in the aforementioned Big Valley DVD. One of the cool things about these vintage shows collected is seeing folks like these, faces you know if you watch enough TV Land; if you're an aficianado like meself you start to learn and remember some of their names. They made the rounds of so many shows; Bonanza, Star Trek, Gunsmoke. Y'know, the only one I've ever seen lauded as an 'Unsung Hero of TV Land'- I think that's what they called it, people whose faces you know from a hundred shows but never as the star -was ol' Burt Mustin. Best remembered as Gus the ancient fireman on Leave It To Beaver and a familiar presence on a slew of 50s - early 60s shows.

    There's Bing Russell. Kurt Russell's dad: Sheriff Clem Foster on Bonanza. One of two traveling salesmen in The Magnificent Seven. Which, of course, starred Charles Bronson who shows up everywhere, making the rounds as a saddle tramp / ne'er-do-wel / misfit, long before he became a big 70s movie star. And Robert Walker, Jr. who seems to be playing much the same off-center wacko that he essayed on Star Trek, Charlie X, though a much less empathetic character here. And Dick Farnsworth, recently reknowned at the twilight of his long career as the aged farmer who rides his lawn tractor cross country to see his estranged brother, quick, what was that movie called? The Straight Story, right. In The Cowboys, when John Wayne's juvenile hands set out to recapture the stolen herd from Bruce Dern and his gang of baddies, Dick Farnsworth is the first of the rustlers to get his just desserts.

   At any rate, it reinforces the sense of familiarity of the television landscape. If TV unreality can be considered familiar that is. And if you can believe the same guy can be sheriff of Viriginia City one week and desperado in Dodge the next. Whoa, boy! 'Reality'. That's a slippery slope. I better call my pal Hoss and see what he thinks. Or better yet Mr. Spock. He'll have some highbrow exposition regarding the psychological ramifications of fantasy immersion and the maturation processes of the human male. Now,where's my communicator?